Egypt's newly elected president to expand ties with Iran

Azerbaijan, Baku, June 25 /Trend S.Isayev, T. Jafarov/ New Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi wants to expand diplomatic ties with Iran, Iran's Fars news agency reported Monday. Morsi underscored in an interview to Fars, that the expansion of bilateral ties would create "an effective strategic balance" in the region. Morsi became Egypt's first freely elected president, acquiring 51.73 percent of votes over 48.27 percent of votes for Ahmed Shafiq, Former president Hosny Mubarak's last prime minister and a former army general. Current president of Egypt spoke to Fars after the presidential run-off elections, yet before he was confirmed as a winner. Iran on Sunday congratulated Morsi on his victory. Tehran hopes that relations between the two countries will improve with the political changes in Egypt. Iran and Egypt have had no diplomatic ties since Iran's 1979 revolution because of Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, but the two governments cooperate on diplomatic affairs at a non-ambassador level. In the interview Morsi also said that Supreme Military Council of Egypt has no right to make adjustments to country's constitution, thus limiting president's privileges. He underscored that that Egypt will appeal against the The Camp David Accords. In 1979, Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty that ended 30 years of conflict. The Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978, following thirteen days of secret negotiations at Camp David. The two framework agreements were signed at the White House, and were witnessed by United States President Jimmy Carter. The second of these frameworks, A Framework for the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel, led directly to the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, and resulted in Sadat and Begin sharing the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize. Little progress was achieved on the first framework however, A Framework for Peace in the Middle East, which dealt with the Palestinian territories. The Camp David Accords were the result of 18 months of intense diplomatic efforts by Egypt, Israel, and the United States that began after Jimmy Carter became President. Efforts initially focused on a comprehensive resolution of disputes between Israel and the Arab countries, gradually evolved into a search for a bilateral agreement between Israel and Egypt. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az